Blizzard Responds to Complaints About Hacking in Diablo 3

Let’s face facts: Diablo 3 did not get off to a great start. Last week’s Tuesday launch was marred by busy servers and crashes, leaving gamers frustrated and upset. The problem: maker Blizzard’s decision to force people to connect to the web in order to play, even in single player mode.

The (supposed) payoff: Blizzard can better monitor the activity of players, getting rid of hackers, pirates, and other malicious goons.

So, is the gamble paying off? Not yet, if recent reports are to be believed. Blizzard recently admitted that it’s facing a barrage of complaints about hackers ruining the in-game experience for many players, indicating that the absence of an offline mode is only going to frustrate and confuse Diablo fans in the months to come.

In a recent statement, Blizzard admitted that it’s received many complaints about hacking during Diablo’s first week of availability. In many cases, this involves someone breaking into an account and stealing in-game equipment or — more alarmingly — personal information.

Blizzard says it’s not surprised by the problem. “Historically, the release of a new game — such as a World of Warcraft expansion — will result in an increase in reports of individual account compromises, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing now with Diablo 3,” the company said in a recent statement.

“We know how frustrating it can be to become the victim of account theft, and as always, we’re dedicated to doing everything we can to help our players keep their Battle.net accounts safe — and we appreciate everyone who’s doing their part to help protect their accounts as well.”

As it deals with a rising number of angry complaints, Blizzard says it’s treating the issue “extremely seriously” and doing “everything possible to verify how and in what circumstances these compromises are occurring.”

Unfortunately, these issues will only reinforce gamers’ insistence that Blizzard create an “offline mode” for the game, permitting play without connecting to the web. Beyond preventing hacks, such an option would also allow players with poor Internet connections — or no access to the web at all — to enjoy a fantastic new PC game.

also, what is the “personal information” that is so alarmingly available if someone guesses someones password? All you can see is the games they own and their names. Even your address and phone number are ****’d out. I would get more from 411. Sure they can sell your items and lock you out for a short time, but that’s just griefing.

The forums have been in an uproar about the solution, with players complaining that it harms legitimate players more than the hackers. Legitimate players who have never cheated nor hacked will log in to find up to 90% of their hard-earned cash gone. Hackers will suffer the same percentage deduction, but with trillions stashed away in mule accounts they’ll still be a lot better off than they were before the incident. Nexon EU clarified the statement in a later announcement, stating that “the deduction of Mesos will only be applied to users who have logged into the game between January 5th, 2011 and February 9th, 2011 5:00 A.M. (GMT+1).” Accounts that were previously trade-banned will also be receiving 1,000 maple points and an incubator as compensation.